The Beckoning Sea

A short story about a cowardly boy who finds his courage and with it, a new friendship with the most powerful and dangerous force of all: the sea.

Submitted:Mar 16, 2013
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Author's Note: This piece was originally named The Call of
The Sea but that name has been taken.

The Beckoning Sea

"There was once a time when the people of our little village by
the sea loved the sea as much as she loved the villagers. The
little children would play by her shore, her waves caressing
them softly as if they were her own. She would gladly give up
her fish to the fishermen so that they could feed themselves
and their family. She would gladly give up her seashells for
the young girls to find to their delight. And occasionally,
she'd give up one of her many treasures for the rare villager
to whom she took a great liking to. And in return, the
villagers made sure her shores and waters were sparkling clean.
They took no more from her than they needed to and most of all,
they made her feel love. But those days are long gone.

"No one knows why it happened. Perhaps the villagers did not
please her enough with their animal sacrifices. Perhaps she did
not feel loved enough. Perhaps she loved too much. In any case,
the sea began to take. At first, she merely took the belongings
left on the shore. The villagers did not mind as long as she
was pleased. But it soon escalated to bigger things, boats,
homes built upon her sandy shores, and even beloved pets. Then
the day the villagers all knew was coming came. The sea began
to take children. Her waves stole them from the arms of their
parents and swept them away. It was clear, their beloved
goddess had turned into a monster from the darkest abyss of
nightmares. Ever since then, not one villager has set foot on
the beach, for fear that the sea will steal him. And that,
children, is why you are all forbidden from stepping one foot
on the beach," the mother warned, concluding her bedtime story.
Every villager has told their children this story, the children
told their own children when the time came, and so forth. In
doing so, not one person has even been snatched away by the
sea. But the boy with the golden hair of a lion, Leo, couldn't
help but wonder what the sea must have been like before she
became a thief.

The following day, the other village boys dared Leo to come
play by the sea. Voice quivering, Leo adamantly refused for
fear that the sea would snatch him too though he very much
wished to see what the sea looked like. Tauntingly, teasingly,
all the while sneering in the boy's tear-streaked face, they
sang, "Leo the cowardly lion! Always in a corner a-cryin'!" As
the boys walked the dusty path to the sea, they laughing
wickedly for they heard the pitter-patter of the footsteps of
the sniffling lion behind them. Leo was tired of it all: the
name-calling, the singing, the snickering. He no longer wanted
to be the cowardly lion and most of all, he wanted to see what
the ocean looked like.

She was all Leo imagined and she was also nothing he could have
ever dreamt of in his wildest dreams. He could feel her raw
power pulsing around him but he could also feel her gentleness
in the small waves that met the sandy beach. He was terrified
of the feelings overwhelming his heart but he was also
strangely comforted by them. The lapping waves were beautiful
instruments, the sea was the composer, and together they
created a wonderful melody. Even the sun seemed to pay homage
to her, his rays making her waters sparkle and glitter. She
seemed so far away yet all he had to do was walk forward to
reach her. Leo woke from his trance as soon as he heard the
sharp inhales of the village boys. He wanted to turn around and
ask them what was wrong but his feet did not want to move.
Looking down, he too gasped for his feet were blue. With a wild
grin, Leo called out to the other boys, daring them to join him
as he waded further into the ocean's welcoming arms. "Who's the
cowardly lion now?" he jeered.

But all too soon, Leo's fun came to an end. The sea's aria
developed into a deafening roar. The once gentle waves had
quickly transformed into towering giants. Dark, thundering,
looming clouds hid the sun from sight and the boys knew what
was coming. So they ran and ran and ran, not wishing to be
swallowed by the sea. Only Leo turned his head, wistfully
staring in her direction as the distance between them grew.

The following day, when Leo went out to go play with his
friends, his suddenly found himself at the beach instead of the
village square. When he looked at his feet and asked them,
"Why?", his toes wriggled in response as if to say, "Why not?"
Leo sighed as his feet brought him closer to the water until
they were once again submerged in it. After a while, he closed
his eyes and began humming to the song of the sea. It was as if
time had stopped and the only things that existed were Leo, the
sea, and the sun who was shining down upon both of them.

All of the sudden, Leo's big toe began to hurt and when he
looked down, he saw a red shell attached to it. Letting out a
yelp, he fell as the sound of a giggling surrounded him.
Frightened by the strange phenomenon, Leo got up to leave but
the voice of a little girl called out to him, "Please don't go!
I haven't met anybody in a long time!" Leo hesitated, realizing
that the voice couldn't have come from anybody except... "The
sea?" In response, her waves grew bigger and then subsequently
subsided. "Sorry, these days I get too excited easily. That's
why I conjured up that storm yesterday. I haven't had a visitor
in over a century." Leo's mouth opened so wide that he could
practically taste the sand where he stood. "One hundred years!?
That's such a long time!" Leo sat down in the shallow water as
he continued to talk with the sea. By the time the sun met the
sea and the sky turned orange, Leo and the sea had become
friends.

Day after day, Leo came back to talk to the sea and every day,
he ventured further and further from the shore. Leo would tell
her how the villagers were doing and the sea would tell him
about the wonderful and colorful world inside of her. He'd
bring her things that the villagers had invented over the
century and she'd give him beautiful sea shells and the sharp
teeth of the monster fish she called "sharks." He'd bring the
village's traditional foods and share them with her while she
gave him fish. "Aren't you hungry?" he'd ask and she'd reply,
"I'm always full of fish!" And together, they'd laugh at her
lame joke. Every now and then, the sea would let him dive
underwater to see her world and whenever Leo returned to the
shore, he had a new treasure to add to his growing collection.
The two learned from each other. They laughed together, they
played together, they fought, and they made up again. They
shared their sorrows and happiness with each other. Out of
curiosity, Leo once asked her why she started to take away the
village children and learned that she loved the villagers so
much that she wanted to keep them with her forever.

Leo knew he loved the sea as much as she loved him, just like
how the villagers and the sea used to be a century ago. He knew
that when she was happy, she'd let her waves surround him
gently. He knew that when she was sad, her waves would
disappear. He knew that when she was angry, her waves grew. He
knew that when she was embarrassed, she would splash him with
her waves. Leo was so used to her presence that the thought of
parting never crossed his mind.

Much to Leo's despair, that day came. When Leo's mother found
his collection of seashells, shark teeth, and treasure, her
anger exploded. Even though Leo tried to reason with his
mother, saying that the sea was no longer hostile, she refused
to back down and forbade him from ever visiting the sea.

Heartbroken, Leo decided to visit his beloved sea one last time
before. "What's wrong Leo?" she asked him as he swam. "You know
you can't hide anything from me. I can um...what was the
expression? Lead you like a dook?" Leo laughed, "Read you like
a book." But Leo's smile was quickly replaced by a frown and he
told the sea what had happened with his mother. "I'm sorry...I
can't visit you anymore," he cried, his body racked with sobs.
"NO!" she cried in anguish. "They can't take you away! I won't
let them!" Her waved swelled into sizes Leo had never seen as
black cloud rolled overhead. Leo's mother feared the worst when
she couldn't find Leo at home and quickly ran to the beach.
"Leo!" she cried. "Swim!" Leo heard his mother's words and swam
towards them. When the sea saw that Leo had almost reached his
mother, she became even angrier. "Don't leave me all alone!" In
desperation, she drew Leo further and further away from the
shore. Soon, Leo's mother was a dot on the horizon and after a
while, he could no longer hear her voice. Unable to keep
himself afloat, Leo sank into the sea just like all the other
children before him. "At least you won't be all alone now," Leo
struggled to say. "I'll always be here."